Could scream power meet Britains energy requirements

Screams extracted from the population of Britain, as seen in the Disney and Pixar film Monsters, Inc,. could theoretically be used to generate enough energy to power the country, according to a Natural Sciences student from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Science.

But before everyone loosens their vocal cords in preparation for some high-pitched energy-making, it should be noted that the sizeable energy requirements of the UK would need everyone in the country to scream around 2,800,000,000 times a day at the highest volume humanly possible (129 dB) – surely leading to many hoarse throats. 

Based on this figure, which was calculated by student Osarenkhoe Uwuigbe, powering the entire country through scream power would only be possible if humans were able to scream at a far higher volume – or if the population of the country increased considerably.

The study was inspired by the Disney and Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc., where main characters Mike Wazowski and Sulley use a ‘Scream Extractor’ to collect the screams of human children to supply energy to their hometown, Monstropolis.

The student presented their findings in a paper for the Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics, a peer-reviewed student journal run by the University of Leicester’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Science. Students from the University of Leicester (UK) and McMaster University (Canada) have contributed to this year’s journal. The student-run journal is designed to give students practical experience of writing, editing, publishing and reviewing scientific papers.